Among other things, due to the poorer nutrition of medieval people, they were unable to mature as quickly as people now, meaning that reproduction often took place after what we would generally consider to be the onset of puberty. Additionally, as a result of puberty, humans undergo substantial growth spurts that include development of secondary sexual characteristics, so the physical characteristics of a 10-11 year old are significantly less developed than those of a 15 year old, in the vast majority of cases. Exceptions exist, yes, but rarely as drastic as is the case with the protagonist, at least in humans.Although the legal minimum age at marriage in medieval England was set at 12 years, in reality, marriage at such a young age was largely restricted to the nobility, with the average age at marriage in the general population estimated at 20–25 years